Several years ago, at the next discussion battle somewhere in the vastness of the worldwide network, our views of artifact hunters captured an unusual object.
I will say right away that the ensuing furious and not very discussion and attempt to break the access code to this thing did not bear fruit. No, the fruits were, but mainly they concerned the external appearance of the device, which is similar to both the mixer and the Jedi's laser sword at the same time.
Only the image of another, similar object was put into the best solutions. It didn't work to "revive" the machine.
The souvenir "cast" from the vajra brought from Kathmandu looked like this:
Promotional video:
Size: 175-75-75mm
Weight: 600 grams
Material: Bronze
They hold it like this:
Or like this:
A short introduction to the Vajra.
The largest vajra is located in Nepal, Kathmandu at Swayambhunath (Monkey) square.
Quote: "A huge dorje lying at the Swayambunath stupa was created during the reign of King Pratap Malla (1641-1647), who, in addition to the dorje and the Grand Staircase, built two shikharas (an Indian-style temple) near the large stupa."
Photo from the author's archive.
“Historians call the reign of Raja Pratap Malla a period of economic and cultural upsurge in the Kathmandu Valley. Pratap was distinguished by his military prowess, which helped him maintain peace in the valley. Patan and Bhadgaon were subordinate to the principality of Kathmandu. The most important points on the main trade route from India to Tibet through the Kuti and Kerong passes were controlled by him. The country traded with India, Tibet and Kashmir. In addition, Pratap Malla was known as a highly educated and cultured ruler who spoke several languages, including English. He composed poems dedicated to gods and goddesses, and by his order they were carved in temples. The fame of the scholarship and talents of Pratap Malla spread so widely that people came to him to study from distant principalities of India. „
Translated from Sanskrit, the term "vajra" means "Diamond Lightning" more associated with the people of the thunder mace of the god Indra.
According to the definition of spiritual leaders, possession of vajra fills its owner with spiritual wisdom, great insight and other criteria that determine awakened consciousness. It is compared with instant Enlightenment similar to a flash of lightning, depicted as a two-way lightning bolt emanating from a single sphere framed by "collars" similar to horns or tusks. The number of horns varies from four to infinity.
The imagination draws the image of a benevolent monk from the Shaolin monastery, converting students to the Path of Goodness and Truth with the help of martial Kung Fu. I will say more, modern martial arts in India have their origin in the martial art of the ancient brahmanas. It is believed that this style of fighting has survived to this day unchanged under the name "vajra-mushti" ("vaira-mukti").
Vajra-mushti is one of the few fundamentally asymmetric types of martial arts. The right hand attacked with a fist, and the left hand attacked the vulnerable areas and acupuncture points with the fingers or palm, as if one hand was associated with a sword and the other with a shield. The actions of the left hand were of a more protective nature and were auxiliary. One of the main features of Vajra Mushti is the incredible power of the right hand blow. In addition, the fighter could not only inflict, but also take a very strong blow to the body without harmful consequences for himself.
"Vajra-mushti" can be translated as "fist of thunder and lightning", "diamond fist" or "fist of the highest skill." In the technique of this style, very fast and powerful straight punches are of primary importance, although there are throws. The main fighting stance is "vajra mushti" - with hands clenched into fists crossed in the lower abdomen. One hand was used only for attack, and the other was used exclusively for defense. Some believe that it was this style that Bodhidharma studied and brought to China in the 6th century AD (Founder of the Shaolin Monastery!). But here I must say that according to another version, "vajra-mushti" is not a style at all, but a special type of combat, in which opponents are armed with special weapons - vajras, something like short metal clubs
Currently, "vajra-mushti" can be attributed to ritual martial arts - a duel between two fighters armed with vajras - "lightning", which are wooden, bronze or iron knuckles of a bizarre shape. In the past, such fights were dedicated to one of the gods of the Indian pantheon and ended with the death (sacrifice) of one of the participants.
Fancy-shaped brass knuckles are called "Yawara".
Jawars have long been known in India, China and Japan. When working with jawars, sharp lunges and movements are used, work at different levels, the combination of blows of hands, feet and the whole body. This variant of the origin of the yawara is very common - Buddhist priests and monks were forbidden to carry weapons. therefore, they used in battle what they had, for example, one of the symbols of faith - "vajra" (a stylized image of lightning). "Yavara" is intended for inflicting powerful point strikes. Gradually, the shape of the brass knuckles changed: the jawara became thinner and more comfortable to hold in the palm of the hand, grew additional spikes for frontal strikes or acquired pointed ends instead of rounded ends.
In the description of the weapon of fights, the vajra is often confused with the chakra:
Especially if the artists depict her like this:
But this is just a WHEEL:
(BATTLE OF KRISHNA AND BHISHMA. BHISHMA PARVA.)
“Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His promise, He got off the chariot, grabbed the wheel from it and rushed to me like a lion throwing itself on an elephant to kill him. He even lost his outer garment while running.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.37)"
Or like this:
Quote from Wikipedia: The chakra is a flat metal ring honed along the outer edge. The diameter of the ring is from 120 to 300 mm and more. The width of the metal strip is from 10 to 40 mm, the thickness is from 1 to 3.5 mm. The chakras were set in a rotational movement around the middle finger and thrown at the enemy [2]. The weapon could rush to a distance of 50 meters and severely injure people not protected by armor.
The first mentions of chakras were in the "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata", where the chakra was the weapon of Vishnu (Sudarshana chakra, fire disc).
Also, these weapons were used by Indian warriors, mainly Sikhs.
Chakra was often worn on a headdress (cone-shaped hats), putting on several discs at once and removing them if necessary.
We continue to read the description of the device in various sources.
Quote: Among bodhisattvas, Vajrapani occupies a special place - an angry bodhisattva, the personification of the power that removes obstacles on the path to Enlightenment. His name means “The Hand Holding the Vajra”. Unlike other bodhisattvas, he is depicted in the proportions of dharmapala, he is without a halo, a flame is raging behind him. It is blue-colored, its attributes are a vajra in the right hand, raised in the tarajni mudra - the threat mudra (in Hinduism, this is the mudra of Shiva), in the left (also in the tarajni mudra) - a hook and loop for catching the souls of sinners. Vajrapani is the only one of the angry deities who does not have skulls in the crown, symbolizing sins, but petals, symbolizing the Dhyani Buddhas. On his thighs there is a tiger skin (also a Shaiva attribute associated with yogic practice). The depiction of Vajrapani in merciful form is extremely rare.
The image of Vajrapani goes back to deep antiquity: the werewolf spirit of Vedic times and the hypostasis of the thunderer Indra, in early Buddhism he becomes the legendary disciple of Shakyamuni, a bodhisattva in the Mahayana, and in the Vajrayana, while remaining a bodhisattva, he also became the idam persona of Vajradifica-tiyapatira. Vajrapani is also called the thousandth Buddha of those who will appear in the world during the current world period. The incarnation of Vajrapani was the king of Shambhala Suchandra, to whom the Buddha taught the Kalachakra teachings.
In Tibet and Mongolia, the vajra is known as Dorje. The literature describes a copper, gold, iron or stone vajra. It is noted that it has four or one hundred corners (it is not clear), a thousand teeth (these are the very horns), sometimes it is in the form of a disk (confused with another weapon called Chakra), and of course it is cruciform.
There is a model combined in one body with a bell, which is used to drive out evil spirits from the sponsored territory,
as a matter of fact, like any bell tower with a bell ringer.
Photo from the author's archive.
In Tibet, a cold weapon with a handle in the form of a vajra called "Phurbu" is made. In the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, Phur-Bu (from Tibet. "Peg") -
a ritual bayonet-knife used to exorcise evil spirits or kill the soul of an enemy. The handle of a bayonet-knife with a three-edged blade is crowned with a horse head of the fierce divine animal Hayagriva acting as a guard (judging by his native Sanskrit, his name is “Fiery Mane”, nothing more). The ritual bayonet-knife is used to spell and exterminate demons as follows: sorcerers inflict stabbing blows on the ground, repeating the main mantra "hum", the material embodiment of which is this device (the mantra "Hum" can mean whatever the sorcerer wants!).
In other words, "Phurbu" symbolizes the destruction of all concepts and attachment to one's own self, as well as ideas about the illusory nature of reality. In some special rituals, "Phurbu" is used as a weapon to subdue forces opposed to the teachings. With the help of Phurbu, the practicing yogi literally nails their symbolic images to the ground.
In The Shadow (1994) starring Alec Baldwin, Phurbu's sinister dance is shown in all its glory:
In the Vajrayana, the vajra symbolizes the masculine principle, the path, skillful means, compassion, that is, activity; the bell symbolizes the feminine principle, fruit, wisdom, that is, passivity.
The image of "vajra" also reflects the meaning of the inviolability of the Buddha Dharma Law, which is as solid as a diamond. The symbolism of the vajra was especially developed in mythology and rituals. In the Vajrayana, many characters are not depicted without a vajra in principle, and some have a “enhanced” double vajra, depicted as four beams of lightning from one ball (or lightning piercing the four cardinal directions, or simply CROSS.
In the world of differences, vajra means masculine spirituality, which consists in active compassion and masterful use of skillful means (upaya) on the Path of liberation, as well as in the ability to teach the Law and provide spiritual help to other beings. In Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism, the emphasis in understanding the term is not on the lightning-fast Enlightenment, but on the indestructibility of the Law. Due to the importance of the symbolic meaning of the vajra, this symbol spread along with Indian religion and culture to the rest of Asia. Vajra has been seen in India, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Korea and Japan.
Our brain easily recognizes images familiar from childhood. White spots on the world map have long been painted in all colors of the rainbow, unless scientists find a new specimen of toothy flora and fauna in the jungle and present it to citizens on TV. But the number of legs in mammals has long been determined by evolution, as well as the number of legs in a chair. Less than four - please, but more … The dog does not need a fifth leg.
Everything that surrounds us is the images of the Earth, in other words. If an overly exotic object catches your eye, a crazy thought flashes in your mind first of all - AND COULD THE ALIENS FROM THE STARS DAMAGE AND FORGOT TO RAISE?
After a preliminary acquaintance with the vajra, as a rule, a reasonable person asks a similar question, because his majesty the brain does not find similar visual associations in its database. THEY ARE SIMPLY NOT.
On the Internet, such a paradox was called "a file lost during defragmentation." Like, there was a case, but there were no surviving witnesses. They were hit by a wave of the Flood. The flood is generally like a border between THAT and THAT. What is incomprehensible in the existing world is easier to easily move along the timeline until that happy time when citizen Noah had not yet greased his Ark with ski ointment, and the rescue boat itself was gathering dust in the drawings of the divine office.
We can blame it on the intrigues of the Golden Age, but this will not bring us one iota closer to solving the problem, because our brain has already chosen the easiest way to solve the riddle - ALIEN'S GUILTY. Unfortunately, our operating system is forced to issue such lapses due to the lack of information on the purpose of the device. Well, she's nowhere to be found, she disappeared along with the Amber Room in the basements of Koenigsberg, gave her ends into the water. Believe me, I could give out the legend of the laser weapon of the gods and colorfully paint how the exploding eggs of giant spiders of conquerors fly through space, or write off everything to reptilians. But the imagination of earthlings also has its limits, and all the good options were sorted out to me. There was nothing left to do but google Yandex and try to find analogies, albeit implausible, but at least somehow pushing on the TRACE of the carriers of the vajra.
The trail appeared where it was least expected. No, I do not mean that no one wore the vajra as jewelry or a rod. The surprise was caused precisely by the fact that the device hanging on the neck of the Mayan leader has a FACE. Later it was found out that the figure depicts the Indian analogue of Prince Vladimir, the Red Sun, and the device itself is the SUN. Why I am so sure of this, I will tell you later.
Tibetan Buddhism is called "Vajrayana" for a reason. According to legend, cited as an example by all the followers of this religious movement, Buddha bent sharp ends to the vajra in order to break the weapons of the gods.
How much bent? If they were straight, then in the initial state we get a terrible cannibalistic fork similar to Ikulanibokol from the Fiji island. Local gods are very fond of human flesh and are armed with just such a device:
And if the tips were bent in the opposite direction, we get this strange "Sun":
This solar image is painfully familiar to us - His Majesty "Fleur de Lys" or "White Lily" is the prototype for royal crowns on all continents.
How clear is the meaning of the expression "Your Lordship" ', "The Sun King"? If you do not fall into philosophical debate, I am still inclined to believe that the symbol "Fleur de Lys" has a Solar nature.
But does it have anything to do with the vajra? Here it is important to remember the symbolism of world religions, when the supreme deity in each particular case could smile, and could be ANGRY. Whether you are even three times His Grace, there always comes a time for reckoning with enemies and guilty servants. The sun gives warmth and light, but it can become very angry and then the heat turns fertile lands into a desert. They sacrificed to the sun, begging for precious rain, or, on the contrary, asked to stop the rain. In other words, people have always depended on the weather in their endeavors. The functions of "controlling" the weather were in the hands of the priests specializing in communication with the gods. In the Vajrayana, the vajra is presented as a distinctive symbol of the divine mediator, more prone to punishment than to reward. This religious movement offers protection in the form of improving one's soul by fighting temptations. There is nothing supernatural, except for the revival of these very temptations in the form of terrible demons against which there is a saving weapon at hand - the vajra.
The image of divine anger, which Buddhists themselves compare with lightning in the role of a spiritual weapon, protected the person himself from divine nightmares, that is, it was a kind of antidote. “Hit the enemy with his own weapon” - this policy resembles the principle of many martial arts, when the enemy's strength is used against him.
To my deep regret, all the holders of the device died long ago and we can only look for evidence even on the grave sarcophagi.
The codes of the Indians were so diligently destroyed by the Spanish, as if the Europeans were faced with a terrible desecration of their religion. Sometimes this happens so that the flock does not have unnecessary questions about the pagan symbols that the church has successfully borrowed.
It would be wrong to mention the term "electricity", in order to go down in time and understand the logic of the ancestors, you need to call a spade a spade, look at the world through their eyes.
In the view of ancient people, heavenly fire descended from heaven as a representative of the Sun and punished the negligent. Fire was worshiped and sacrificed. And we could not talk about lightning in its today's understanding. Despite the fact that over time there were many deities and each became responsible for his own area of work, the degree of divine anger was still measured by the amount of HEAT. “WAD-ZHRA”, even in writing, resembles the word combination TO DRIVE THE HEAT (not to be confused with “drive the sting.” But as further investigation showed, the truth was somewhere nearby.
The Vajrayana teaching replaced the fire of heavenly anger with the fire of spiritual development. The ringing of the bell replaced the rumble of thunderous rumblings. There was a substitution of concepts, a transformation of gross physical matter, which inspired fear and horror, into a white and fluffy religion of love and kindness. On paper, this looks the most touching, but we still have questions both to the device itself and to its owners. But it was necessary to dot the i's, because people have a real mess in their heads and the garbage heap on the Internet only grows from this.
So the first conclusion:
VAJRA IS FIRE IN ALL ITS HYPOSTASIS.
Where does the wind come from and what does Hercules have to do with it,
we'll talk in the next chapter.